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Daughters of Earth
Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century
Edited Justine Larbalestier
Sales Date: 2006-05-22
424 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in
The best of women's science fiction and feminist theory together in one volume
Women's contributions to science fiction over the past century have been lasting and important, but critical work in the field has only just begun to explore its full range. Justine Larbalestier has collected 11 key stories—many of them not easily found, and all of them powerful and provocative—and sets them alongside 11 new essays, written by top scholars and critics, that explore the stories' contexts, meanings, and theoretical implications. The resulting dialogue is one of enormous significance to critical scholarship in science fiction, and to understanding the role of feminism in its development. Organized chronologically, this anthology creates a new canon of feminist science fiction and examines the theory that addresses it. Daughters of Earth is an ideal overview for students and general readers.
Introduction
Story: "The Fate of the Poesidonia" – Clare Winger Harris (1927)
Essay: Illicit Reproduction: Clare Winger Harris's "The Fate of the Poiseidonia" – Jane Donawerth
Story: "The Conquest of Gola" – Leslie F. Stone (1931)
Essay: The Conquest of Gernsback: Leslie F. Stone and the Subversion of Science Fiction Tropes – Brian Attebery
Story: "Created He Them" by Alice Eleanor Jones (1955)
Essay: From Ladies' Home Journal to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: 1950s SF, The Offbeat Romance Story, and the Case of Alice Eleanor Jones – Lisa Yaszek
Story: "No Light in the Window" – Kate Wilhelm (1963)
Essay: Cold War Masculinity In The Early Work Of Kate Wilhelm – Josh Lukin
Story: "The Heat Death of the Universe" – Pamela Zoline (1967)
Essay: A Space of Her Own: Pamela Zoline's "The Heat Death of the Universe" –Mary Papke
Story: "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill Side" – James Tiptree, Jr. (1972)
Essay: (Re)Reading James Tiptree Jr.'s "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill Side" – Wendy Pearson
Story: "Wives" –Lisa Tuttle (1976)
Essay: The Universal Wife: Exploring 1970s Feminism with Lisa Tuttle's "Wives" —Cathy Hawkins
Story: "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" – Octavia Butler (1987)
Essay –Andrea Hairston
Story: "Rachel in Love" –Pat Murphy (1987) Essay: Simians, Cyborgs and Women in "Rachel in Love" –Joan Haran
Story: "Balinese Dancer" – Gwyneth Jones (1997)
Essay: "Prefutural Tension": Gwyneth Jones's Gradual Apocalypse –Veronica Hollinger
Story: "What I Didn't See" –Karen Joy Fowler 2002
Essay: Something Rich and Strange: Karen Joy Fowler's "What I Didn't See" –L. Timmel Duchamp
Bibliography
Justine Larbalestier is the author of The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (2002) and the young adult novel Magic or Madness (2005), and an honorary associate in the School of English, Art History, Film and Media at the University of Sydney. She makes extended visits to New York City.
"...(R)eally good stories, some of which have been out of print for decades. While the essays offer content and history, you'll look to this volume for the storytelling, first and foremost: If you're going to read about big ideas, you might as well enjoy it."
~Sara Sklaroff, The Washington Post
"Eleven excellent stories—some barely known, others already classics—with accompanying essays that will inspire you to read more. A wonderful introduction to the richness of feminist science fiction."
~Sarah LeFanu, author of In the Chinks of the World Machine
"This collection not only sets new critical standards for all of us to aspire to in our scholarship, but also sets new stylistic standards for us to aspire to in our critical prose."
~Brooks Landon, Professor and Chair, English Department, University of Iowa